Hot Date

Chapter 3

The rumbling roar of thunder rang in Eiji's ears as he ran out through the rain beneath his umbrella, calling out for his lover. "Necoco!" he shouted. "Necoco, where are you?" The older man slowed down to a stop, looking around frantically, then sped up again, panic overcoming him. What would happen should someone else find Necoco? What if those brats that made him decided to come back into the game? Eiji would not have it. A flash of lightning came uncomfortably close, striking a nearby tree with a primitive snarl of a thunderclap, and Eiji gasped as the tree caught fire. Even though said fire soon was extinguished by the rain, the tree collapsed, and Eiji cursed, closing his umbrella and running now with a lower profile. He soon came up to Necoco's favorite park, the little park on the hill, and he saw the love machine sitting in a bench- on the highest point on the hill aside from the slide. "Necoco!" Eiji yelled. "Get away from there!"

He ran up to the love machine, kneeling down to avoid attracting the attention of a certain Greek god, and he gently shook his lover, only to discover that Necoco's battery had died. The cat's face fell into his hand weakly, and Eiji gasped, then hugged the machine tightly. "Come on, now, we need to go," he sighed, taking the cat up on to his back. "We can't... stay here..." Suddenly, just like when you think you've killed an insect and it suddenly twitches, Necoco forced words from his dying mouth.

"I love you... Eiji, I love you... say that you also... l... m... b...ck..."

Eiji was about to tell the machine that he loved him more than anything in his life, knowing that he wouldn't care whether Necoco heard him or not. But then, suddenly, a flash sliced through the older man's vision, and he shouted in discomfort as an electric shock coursed through him, sending him to the ground, making his teeth rattle with searing pain. Then, there was a whirring sound next to his ear. Magenta eyes slowly opened, and hands found their ways to Eiji's shoulders. Then, as if still weak, Necoco's head rested on Eiji's, and the older man gulped, before scrambling to his feet, and running. "Don't worry, Necoco," he panted, his face still stinging from the bolt of lightning that had pierced him and his love, "I'm going to protect you... I promise..."

The fingers on his shoulders dug into the skin, and Eiji flushed red even in the cold, until he had at last taken Necoco back to his place. He immediately eased the cat onto the couch and ran to get a towel, and as he worked to dry the love machine's hair, he noticed something odd. Necoco was looking at him with hazy, confused eyes, as if uncertain about what had just happened. Eiji himself wasn't quite sure, but somehow, the lightning must have revived his love. "Who're you?" Necoco asked suddenly. Eiji paused, backing up, letting the towel remain on Necoco's shoulders.

"Necoco, you can't be serious," he said in a shaky voice. The machine continued to stare at him with blank eyes. "Necoco, really," Eiji said, his eyes growing teary as he realized what had happened. "Necoco, c'mon!" he protested, gently shaking the cat by his shoulders.

"You carried me all'a way here," Necoco acknowledged, looking around. "Did you say my name was Necoco? Funny... I haven't heard anyone call me that before..."

"Oh, no," Eiji sighed, leaning back. "I can't believe it! I never knew there was a reset button on you!"

"I have a reset button?" Necoco asked. The cat then abandoned that notion, suddenly taking intrest in Eiji's body. He reached forward, and began to unbutton the other's shirt, his eyes growing soft. He observed the claw marks on the other's chest, and the love bites all over his neck and collarbone. "You're all marked up," Necoco acknowledged, his tail dancing in the air. "Someone really special to you must've done that, right?"

"Yes," Eiji answered, before coming in and hugging Necoco. "He's the most precious person to me in the world. And he is Necoco."

"Necoco? Then... I... did this?" Necoco murmured.

"Yes," Eiji breathed, squeezing Necoco tightly in his arms. "You did this. The most important one in the world to me. The one I love more than anything else. You're my sweet Necoco. My dear Necoco." The cat teared up as Eiji rested his head against his shoulder. He had pretended to have been reset when he had been struck by lighting for one reason and one reason alone: he was ashamed that he had previously been unable to protect his boyfriend. He had expected Eiji to throw a fit over it and punish him- that was what he had wanted, but instead, Eiji was embracing him, crying over him. It struck the love machine just how much Eiji loved him, and as he cried aganist that warm shoulder, he curled his tail around the arms hugging him.

"I love you, too," he whispered. "Eiji, I love you so much."

"... Necoco..."

The love machine glanced back at his boyfriend to see if Eiji was all right, then realized that he'd been found out. He gulped. "Y'okay, Eiji?" he asked. "Um... Eiji...?"

"One normal date is all I ask!" Eiji shouted. "One! But no! You just have to mix it up with your perverted nature!"

"Well, gosh, Eiji! I wouldn't be like this if you wouldn't be better at standing up for yourself!"

"What happened to you wanting to protect me, eh?"

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen. I thought you were the man in this relationship. Y'liar."

"Hey!"

And so, the daily adventures of Necoco and Eiji continued as normal.

-Owari

Merp. Hope I do better on the next Love Neko story I write...

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